Starting units in schools!

When County Commissioner Wilma got chatting to a local teacher about setting up a school unit, she didn’t realise how much the idea would take off. Fast forward to 2017 and she has since helped open up school units for Rainbows, Brownies and Guides.

Wilma shares some of the benefits these new school units bring, how she made it work and her top advice for following in her footsteps.

We now have 15 Rainbows, 14 Brownies and 7 Guides in the school. Parents and teachers say they’ve noticed our members are more confident and feel more comfortable speaking up in class since joining.

1. We let the school staff recommend which girls should join. This worked well for our setup as they’re more aware of who needs additional support. There are lots of other great units available locally for other girls.

2. Figure out the best time slots to hold the sessions so that regular lessons aren’t disrupted too much. We were given 30 minutes of the first afternoon period and the girls give up 30 minutes of their lunch break to come along.

3. It’s not compulsory! The girls don’t have to come along and we’ve found that this makes them more engaged as they’re there because they want to be not because they have to be.

4. Spread the word. Lots of our members had never heard of Girlguiding before so creating a school unit was a great way to introduce them and make parents and teachers aware of the brilliant opportunities available.

Get started, get funding!

If you want to start your own school unit there’s special funding available. Find out more here.